Team Meeting - difficult child Back at Collaborative Day

Well, I have been awol for a few days because I have been working overtime to try to catch up on things that were put on the back burner last week and the beginning of this week.

The team meeting went better than I expected, although I have to admit that I was so nervous that I lost some sensation in my hands just before the actual meeting. It was so strange - I have heard of that happening, but it has never actually happened to me - my finger tips were completely numb.

Anyhoo, I met with psychiatrist, therapist, collaborative day coordinator and the on staff nurse. Teacher did not attend Still no explanation for that.

The good news is that things may be changing in the day program. therapist said that he is going to remind staff that difficult child has a serious mental illness and they need to take that into consideration in every dealing with him. They need to react to him differently and attempt to squash triggers upon their inception. He said that there are some situations that difficult child "cannot be responsible for" and that, frankly, some members of the staff need to "step up to the plate". I was most shocked by this - and hope that he intends to see the changes through. We'll see.

psychiatrist has decided to continue with the discontinuance of the lithium. We see very little difference in difficult child's behavior and composure and are thankful he has (so far) landed as softly as he has. Seroquel is staying in place for now, but that may be decreased slowly over time as well. difficult child will have to see a pediatric endochronologist (sp??) to deal with the thyroid function issue and that will be scheduled as soon as possible. The nearest one is about 3 hours away, so that will be interesting, but necessary.

The bad news is that the program he qualified for - and they would have liked to see him enter - is in Bethesda, MD. As we live in northern NY, this is really not a viable option at this point. Of course, if things do not continue to remain stable and if 'Last Thursday' becomes a frequent occurrence, we will have no choice but to look into it further, but for now, we are going to have him evaluated by yet another psychiatrist and he is going to have extensive neuropsychologist testing done, even if husband & I have to take out a personal loan to pay for it (SD is refusing - saying it is not their responsibility, but therapist & staff are leaning on them).

difficult child started back in the coll. day program yesterday and had a great day. Got a 10 out of 10 for behavior. He reported that everyone treated him well - no bullies - no nasty retorts from the teacher. I sat at work all day toiling away, but thinking of him all day. Last night, he reported his day in a 'no big deal' kind of way, and I guess for that I should be thankful.

Thanks again to everyone who listened, supported, hugged and added prayers and bead rattling. It is truly appreciated and I am sure I would not know what to do without my CD cyber-family.

Day program sounds promising - in my humble opinion, the hardest part of various programs is getting staff on the same page regarding our difficult children illnesses & the response or lack thereof, needed.

Take time to catch up; personally, I'd take time to nap. But that's my favorite hobby.

<span style='font-size: 14pt'> <span style='font-family: Georgia'> <span style="color: #663366"> jamie, it sounds like it was a very productive meeting. i do think, however, i would follow up & make sure they've gotten the teacher totally on board with-all this.

hope they can pressure the school into flipping the bill on the testing/consults they want.

Jamie, sounds like a productive meeting. I hope things continue on an upward trajectory.

I live in Bethesda's backyard. I know there is an NIH Children's Inn where families from out of town stay. If you end up having to go that route, please let me know. I will help you navigate this area in any way I can.

I'm glad that the meeting went so well. I would be very interested to hear, though, why teacher didn't show up. Especially since it seems that a little intervention from her could have nipped this in the bud <u>before</u> it got to this point. Hmmmm......

Keep us posted on how things progress.

As an aside - I've lost sensation in my hands before from anxiety so I can totally relate to how anxious you were going into the meeting. It's not fun and I find that it affects my memory, too.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: On_Call</div><div class="ubbcode-body">.The good news is that things may be changing in the day program. therapist said that he is going to remind staff that difficult child has a serious mental illness and they need to take that into consideration in every dealing with him. They need to react to him differently and attempt to squash triggers upon their inception. He said that there are some situations that difficult child "cannot be responsible for" and that, frankly, some members of the staff need to "step up to the plate". . </div></div>

Now that's a therapist!!!!!

Like some of the other posters, I would love to hear the teacher's excuse for not being at the meeting.

difficult child's reaction to yesterday is a great sign - no big deal is a good thing.

Thanks everyone! Yes, the meeting went much, much better than I expected - and things seem to be going better for difficult child at collaborative day. Two days in a row without any correctives, etc. I got the discipline report in the mail today and difficult child wanted to read it. I hesitated, but let him and we discussed it - I let him lead the discussion. He was a bit teary at times, but he agreed with everything in it except the spin the teacher put on the beginning of the situation. Figures. Still no answer on why she didn't show at the meeting, but I am supposed to talk by phone with therapist tomorrow afternoon for a check-in, so perhaps he will give me some insight.

smallworld, thanks for offering to help me navigate your corner of the world if we end up taking that road! Very nice of you - and I will definitely take you up on it, if we do need to seek out that option.

Thanks again, everyone. Hopefully, we are on the right track. Will let you know if I find out any info on the teacher's absence!